Artist Statement: "I paint to learn more about myself."-LKMy work is about connecting to our environment through themes of nature, family and home. To represent this connection, I loosely paint the flight of a hummingbird, the texture of a nest, the color of nature, and the shape of a vase. Digging deeper, these paintings represent family life cycles, hope, renewal, gratitude and home. Mixing up mixed media is fun and I work in a variety of mediums, including encaustic. The desire to explore materials is a constant in my process. I often ask myself, “What if I …” and have incorporated silk, bed sheets, paper, and pan pastels amongst other ingredients to create layering. I enjoy making stencils and the studying pattern. While I live in Alpharetta, GA exploring the world through travel adds to my knowledge of my surrounding and seeps into my paintings. To me, painting Is like solving a complex puzzle. There are so many moving parts to resolve, so many ideas to ponder. The exploration is endless and the completion of a painting, joyous. Artist Bio: After graduating from the University of Texas in Austin, Lorra worked for years in the financial services industry. She felt a void and pursued creative outlets outside of work. Once she moved to Georgia, she decided to make a change and enrolled in interior design courses at The Atlanta College of Arts. She dabbled in interior design and when her twins were born, started painting and never stopped. Her art is about connecting with her environment whether it is children, family, parenting, home, cycles of life and nature. She does this through her themes of hummingbirds, nests, florals, cityscapes and vessels. She likes to mix up mixed media and works in a variety of mediums. She is represented by several Southeastern galleries, participated in solo and juried shows and her work has been featured on Tamara Day’s HGTV show “Bargain Mansions.”